161–170 of 474 posts
"Per the state of Ohio, Akron’s schools were given just $10,028 in state and local funds per student in 2016 — more than the statewide average, but still a relatively low figure for a city of a little under 200,000."
Relative to what? You've already told us it was higher than the state average. To call it relatively lower means that there are some who receive more, but we're in the dark as to who they are.
The #1 factor for improving schools would be public school choice. Competition makes the participants in any system better. The schools need to use a lottery for acceptance of students. We can drop all the regulation around testing results and simply let people choose which public school they go to. Some schools will be great and have a lot of demand. Some schools will be crap and will have little demand and they sho…
then, improving competition would help parents pick the right schools for their kids, improving educational outcomes.
However, 1 and 2 are definitely not true, and I think 3 is not true as well (higher salaries attract good teachers.)
If you want to improve education outcomes in the US, you must improve funding for schools in poor areas, increase incomes for parents (possibly with a child allowance), reduce discriminatory law enforcement that disproportionately targets poor and minority parents, and much more.
First: longer days worries me if they aren't starting later. American schools start WAY TOO EARLY and probably make children chronically tired because of this. See https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/back-to-schoo... Second: Even if this school has good results, it seems unlikely that it will scale well, because it's relying on more money (from outside donors, etc.). You can't throw more money at a problem…
This feeds into the 'if everybody can't succeed, then put up roadblocks to anybody succeeding'. Sometimes charter schools are there to do exactly what's been described there: create at least one good school. Because the public system is largely underfunded/broken. To defy this impulse because it isn't replicable, is to deny the part the govt plays in creating the broken public schools.
RAND found that "With minor exceptions, by 2014–2015, student achievement, access to effective teaching, and dropout rates were not dramatically better than they were for similar sites that did not participate".
It's refreshing to see a holistic approach to helping at-risk students, instead of assuming that teachers are the most important component. Good nutrition, safe transport to school, and support for parents all seem like ideas that should be more experimented with.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I worked for 2 years as an AmeriCorps volunteer in Atlanta Public Schools. I'll preface this by saying I don't know if I believe charter schools are bad or good, but here are some arguments against them: - Charter schools take money away from neighborhood public schools. Most schools are funded per-capita, so fewer students means less money. But many costs are fixed/discrete (e.g. school nurse costs N thousand dollar…
That's a pretty good summary of the common anti-charter arguments. A few counter-arguments to the above: - Charter schools expand choice for low-income families. If your public school sucks and your family is doing well, you can always move elsewhere or go to private school. If you're from a poor family, charter schools are your only escape valve - Maybe it's bad for the public school, but it's good for the high perf…
According to this article [1], schools can technically be registered as a non-profit, but contract out day to day operations to a for-profit management company owned by the same people who run the non-profit.
This setup allows the school to take in tax free donations, but it means that from a profit motive standpoint it's identical to a for-profit school.
I have no idea how common this is, but it does mean that it's not quite as simple as saying that the vast majority are non-profit.
1. https://ourfuture.org/20170615/are-nonprofit-charter-schools...
First: longer days worries me if they aren't starting later. American schools start WAY TOO EARLY and probably make children chronically tired because of this. See https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/back-to-schoo... Second: Even if this school has good results, it seems unlikely that it will scale well, because it's relying on more money (from outside donors, etc.). You can't throw more money at a problem…
First: longer days worries me if they aren't starting later. American schools start WAY TOO EARLY and probably make children chronically tired because of this. See https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/back-to-schoo... Second: Even if this school has good results, it seems unlikely that it will scale well, because it's relying on more money (from outside donors, etc.). You can't throw more money at a problem…
Yes you absolutely can!
First: longer days worries me if they aren't starting later. American schools start WAY TOO EARLY and probably make children chronically tired because of this. See https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/back-to-schoo... Second: Even if this school has good results, it seems unlikely that it will scale well, because it's relying on more money (from outside donors, etc.). You can't throw more money at a problem…
This feeds into the 'if everybody can't succeed, then put up roadblocks to anybody succeeding'. Sometimes charter schools are there to do exactly what's been described there: create at least one good school. Because the public system is largely underfunded/broken. To defy this impulse because it isn't replicable, is to deny the part the govt plays in creating the broken public schools.
Charter schools do not share that motivation. If they find a teaching method that works better their objective is not to share to but instead use it to capitalize and enrich themselves.
Finally, charter schools are publicly funded. If they are taking tax-payer money the results should absolutely be replicable.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where I live they are often attended by white students to avoid public schools that have sizable black student populations. There are many benefits and drawbacks to charter schools. The conditions in my area are not universal to other parts of the country.
Demographics of charter schools vary widely by state - https://ballotpedia.org/Charter_school_demographics There seems to be a prevailing notion that they are enclaves for scared white parents, but the reality is a bit more complex than that.